Buffing machine



Nov. 7, 1944. N. H. KNOWLTON 2,362,076

BUFFINGMACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1. f

Norwood H.Know1ton By hkAitornzy Nov. 7, 1944. N. H. KNQWLTON 2,362,076

- BUFFING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 F f //vv/v 7UP.

f NormoodHKnomHon By hisAttorney NOV. 7, 1944. KNOWLTON 2,362,076

BUFFING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 //v VE/V m/ Norwood HKnowH'on By his ALiorney Nov. 7, 1944. N. H. KNOWL TON BUFFI'NG MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 (x o 0 NR Qm R0 s o o 5 m. Q Fim r? //VVENTU/F Norwood H Kmwlcon By his Attorney Nov. 7, 19.44. N. H. KNOWLTON BUFFING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 W Vf/V TU/F. Norwood H Kl'wwlimi B his Attorney lique to the buffing roll.

Patented Nov. 7, 1944 I "UNITED [STATES ,PATENT OFFICE BUFFING MACHINE Norwood H. Knowlton, Itockport, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application September 8, 1943, Serial No. 501,551

' 8 Claims] o1. 51'76) This invention relates to bufiing machines, and is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a bufiing machine of thetype disclosed in United 1 Patent, is adapted to the bufling of soles prior to their attachment to shoes. Both machines are similar to the extent that they utilize a plurality of feed belts which are driven in adirection ob- The obliquity of the feed belts imparts to the Work-afeeding movement having a component which isendwise with respectto the bufiing roll, and because of this endwise component the various particles of grit upon the builing roll will engage the work piece at different localities endwise of the roll, or trans, versely of the Work piece, upon successive rota-- tions of the roll. Any tendency of exceptionally large particles of grit to make visible scratch marks upon the surface of the work, will thus be avoided. g o

An object of the present invention is to provide a machine of the type under consideration which is simple and which is well adapted to operate upon work pieces which have marked differences ofthicknessestransversely of the direction, of

which are skived to afeather edge. The pressers,

her'ein illustrated. consist of individual pulleys for the feed belts, together with resilient means for independently pressing each pulley toward the buffing roll to hold the Work piece against the boiling roll, all of which pulleys have theiraxes parallel toeachother and oblique to theaxis of.

the buffing roll.

These and other features of the inventionwill appear more fully from the following detailed description when read inconnection withthe ac- Fig. 2 is a viewin side elevation ofthe machine showni'nFig. 1; I v H Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthe machine'omitting certain parts such as the dust hood to show the relation of the feed belts to the buffing roll and the cleaning brush;

Fig. 4 is a plan view similar to Fig. 3 but omitting also the buffing roll and portions of the feed belts to show the belt support pulleys;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line VV of Fig. 4 showing one of the belt supporting pulley units;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VI--VI of Fig. 5; and i Fig. '7 is a detail. in side elevation of one of the shaft supports.

The operating instrumentalities of the illustrated machine comprise a buffing roll 10, a feed mechanism l2, and a. cleaning brush I4 all mounted in the upper portion of a frame it. A worktable ll facilitates the introduction of work pieces by the operator to the feed mechanism. The buffing roll, which may be similar to that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,218,538, granted October 22, 1940, in my name, is carried by a shaft l8 (Fig. 3) journaled in bearings 20 secured upon shelves 22 which are a part of the frame. The cleaning brush M has a wooden hub 24, one end of which is secured by set screws in asocket 25 carried by a spindle 28. The other end of the brush I4 is similarly secured in a socket carried by a spindle (not shown). The spindle 28 is lournaledin a bearing (notshown) secured to the under'surface of the horizontal flange of an angle bracket 32 which is carried by a pair of vertical posts 34 and 36. The bearing for the spindle at the opposite end of the brush l 4 is secured to the under surface of the horizontal flange of an angle bracket 38 which is secured to a vertical post 40. The posts 34, 3t and 40 all extend upwardly and are all secured to a vertical plate 42, which, in turn, is carried by a pair of upwardly extending posts 44' and 46 secured to vertical surfaces on the sides of the bearings 20 respectively. The axes of the buffing roll and the cleaning brush are horizontal and parallel to each other, and are inclined at an to the transverse center line of the machine The feed mechanism I2 comprises a plurality of parallel feed belts 41 which are composed of a resilient rubber composition material and may be of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,662,511, granted Madch 13, 1928, on the application of Walter Geist. These belts extend forwardly and rearwardly of the machine, at rightangles to the transverse center line and with both the upper and the lower runs of the ferred to.

belts substantially horizontal. The forward porti ns of the belts run in the grooves of a common pulley 48 (Figs. 3 and 4) and the rear portions of the belts run in the grooves of a common pulley 50. The pulley 48 is mounted for free ro tation upon a stationary shaft 52 which is secured at one Of its ends by a pair of set screws 54 and 56 (see also Fig. '7). A similar pair of set screws, also numbered 54 and 56, are provided for securing the other end of the shaft. The set screws 54 and 56 of each pair are coaxial, and with reference to the shaft 52 are in diametrically opposed relation to each other, extending forwardly and rearwardly with respect to the machine. They are threaded through upstanding ears 58 and 60 of a bracket 62 which in turn is secured by screws 64 for heightwise adjustment upon a standard 66 secured upon'a shelf 68 of the frame I6. It is evident that each end of the shaft 52 can be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly by loosening'one of the screws 54 or 56 and tightening'the other. The pulley 50 is mounted for free rotation upon a stationary shaft I which is secured at its ends for adjustment forwardly or rearwardly and also for heightwise adjustment by bracket assemblies I2 similar tothe bracket assembly comprising the members 66 and 62 and the set screws 54 and 56 already re- Also mounted on the pulley 50 is a sprocket-wheel 14 (Fig. 4) over which runs a chain I6 (Figs. 3, 1 and 2) for driving the pulley. The shelf 68 has an opening to accommodate the chain I6.

The feed belts are supportedat the locality of operation. and 'areurged upwardly to press a work piece yieldingly against the buffing roll. by a mechanism comprising a plurality of idler rolls or pulleys 18' (Figs. 2, 4, and 6). Each of the pulleys I8 supports one of the belts 41 and is in turn carried by an upstanding plunger 80. The plungers 80 are all slidably mounted for heightw-ise movement independently of each other in a frame 82 (which, together with the pulleys I8 and the plungers 80, will presently be described more in detail) and each plunger is urged upwardly by a compression spring 84. The frame 82 is secured at each of its ends by a clamping screw 86 to an upwardly extending flange of an L-shaped bracket 88. The clamping screws 86 extend through heightwise slots in the brackets 88 to'provide for heightwise adjustment of the supporting frame 82. Such heightwise adjustment is facilitated by screws 90 threaded through ears extending from the supporting frame and having their ends abutting the edge of the upstanding flange of the bracket 88. Each of the brackets 88 has also a horizontal flange which is pivotally mounted for limited tilting movement upon a fulcrum pin 92 having a horizontal axis extending transversely of the machine. Each of the pins 92 is carried by a stud 94 secured in the shelf 68. The frame 82 may be clamped in any desired position of tilting adjustment about the fulcrum pins. 92 by a rod 96 having one end pivotally connected to the frame 82 and having its other end in threaded engagement with a nut 98 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3). The rod 96 passes through a hole'in a plate I00 secured to the frame I6, and the outer surface of this plate serves as an abutment for the nut 98. A coil compression spring I02 surrounding the rod 96 is interposed between the inner surface of the plate I00 and a collar I03 on the rod 96. The spring I02 urges the rod 96 as far to the right (as seen in Fig. 2) as permitted by the nut 98. It is evident that turning of the nut 98 will move the rod 96 longitudinally and thereby adjust the rolls I8 forwardly or rearwardly. The purpose of this adjustment will be explained later.

The frame 82, as shown in Fig. 4, extends obliquely across the feed belts, and the line joining the centers of the pulleys I8 is parallel to the axis of the bufiing roll I0. The frame 82 comprises a pair of parallel vertical plates I04 and I06 spaced at their ends by blocks I08 and H0 and secured together at their ends by screws II2 (Figs. 4 and 5). The plungers are guided for heightwise movement between the plates I04 and. I06 and are supported laterally by sliding contact with each other, except that the end plungers are supported laterally on their outer surfaces by the respective spacer blocks I08 and I I0. These plungers, except for their upper poi tions, appear in cross section as oblique parallelograms, as shown in Fig. 4. The upper portion of each plunger is notched to leave an upstanding side flange H4 and to provide a space for the pulley 18 which the plunger supports. Secured in each flange H4 is a horizontal, laterally extending pin II6 (Fig. 6) which constitutes a bearing upon which the pulley rotates. One face of each pulley is thus adjacent to its supporting flange H4, and the opposite face is adjacent to and in sliding contact with the supporting flange of the neighboring pulley. The pins H6 are all parallel to each other, extending transversely with respect to the feed belts; but they are offset in the direction of feed to bring the line of centers of the pulleys parallel to the axis of the buffing roll Ill. The plate I04 has a lug H8 at each end by which the supporting frame 82 is clamped to the brackets 88. The pivotal connection between the rod 96 and the frame 82 is carried by the spacer block IIO.

Each of the plungers 80 rests upon a collar I20 formed upon the upper portion of a pin I22. The pins extend upwardly a short distance above the collars I20 and engage sockets formed in the bases of their respective plungers to keep the pins centered. Each pin I22 is surrounded by one of the springs 84, the upper end of which bears against the collar I 20 and the lower end ofwhich bears against a common abutment in the form of a shelf I26 having holes through which the pins extend to permit downward movement of the plungers when the springs are compressed. Upward movement of the plungers under the influence of said springs is limited by a flange I28 extending from the inner wall of the plate I06 and engaging a vertical slot I 30 in each of the plungers 80. The slots I30 are long enough to permit sufficient freedom of downward yielding to the plungers.

The effective stress of the springs 84 may readi ly be varied by adjustment. To this end the shelf I 26 is provided with a supporting flange I32 (Fig. 6) which extends upwardly in contact with the outer wall of the plate I06. Extending outwardly from the top of the flange I32 is a horizontal flange I34 which rests upon the upper edge of a long plate-like adjusting bar I36. The

inner face of the bar I36 is adjacent to the outer face of the flange I32. Secured-to the plate I06 by screws I38 is a retaining plate I 40 which is maintained parallel to the plate I06 by spacing washers I42 on the screws I38. The supporting flange I32 and the bar I 36 are slidable between the plate I06 and the retaining .plate I40, the supporting flange being restricted to vertical movement by the engagement of its vertical-edges with the spacing washers I42. The lower edge 0.1:.the bar I36 has two inclined cam portions I44y(1lig. which, are in stepped relation to each other and which bear respectively against the spacing-washers I42 ofthe two upper screws I'38..

If desired, anti-friction rolls may be mounted on the washers. It is evident that movement of the bar I36 to the left will cause thebar to ride up on the washers and to raise the supporting flange I32, thereby increasing the stress of the springs- 84, while movement of the bar to the right will result in a slackening of the stress of the springs. For the convenience of the operator in performingthis adjustment a finger hole I46 is provided inthe bar'l3'6. I

In order to insure the proper presentation of a workpiece to the builing roll, and the control of the feed of the work piece by the belts 41, there isprovided a presser plate or, as it is more usually called, a throat plate I48 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) which inclines-downwardly from the front of the machine and has its forward lower edge beveled as indicated by the reference numeral I50 on Fig. 2. The throat plate is parallel to the axis of the buffing roll, and its lower edg is also parallel. The throat plate is clamped against an inclined surface on a crossmember I52 extending obiquely across the frame I6 in a direction parallel to the axis of the buffing roll- I0. (Fig. 1) threaded into thecross piece I52 and extendingthrough slots I56 in the throat plate I48 provide for securing the throat plate in any desired position of adjustment along the direction of downward inclination of the throat plate to bring the plane of the bevel I50 slightly secant to the periphery of the bufling roll. A keyway I58 on the throat plate extending in a direction at rightangles (as seen in horizontal projection) to the axis of the bufling roll and engaging a key on thecrosspiece I52 holds the throat plate against movement transverse to the direction of its adjustment. The cross piece I52 is secured at its end to the shelves 22 by clamping bolts I60 threaded into the shelves 22 and extending through slots in the cross piece to enable the cross piece tobe adjusted in a direction which is horizontal and at right angles to the axis of the The supporting pulleys 18 should engage the feed belts at a locality which lies between the beveled edge I50 and the line of tangency between the work piece and the bufiing roll. The upward pressure of the work piece caused by the springs 84 is thus distributed between the beveled edge I50 ofthe throat plate and the buffing roll. To keep the rapidly rotating bufiing roll from taking control of the feed. the greater part of the pressure exerted by the work piece should be against the beveled edge I50. The upper surface of the work piece, which is to be presented to the buffing roll, will be held flat by the beveled edge I50, and any irregularities of transverse thickness, such as may result from skiving, will be taken up by the differential yielding of the springs 84. The upper surface of the work piece will therefore be presented flat (transversely) to the buffing roll and with substantially uniform pressure along its entire width notwithstanding variations in transverse thickness. The purpose of the tilting adjustment of the frame 82 effected by the nut 98, is to enable the locality of operation of the supporting rolls to be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly to obtain a more desirable Clamping bolts I54 balance of pressure between the buffing roll and thelthroat. plate.

Additional support for the feed belts 41 at the locality of the brush I4 is provided by a plurality of idler: pulleys I62 which are each urged upward independently of the others by a mechanism I63 similarto that already described for the pulleys 18. A throat plate I64 carried bythe posts 40 and 34 and having a beveled edge I66 engages the upper surface of the work piece in advance of the brush I4 and cooperates with the pulleys I82 in presenting the work to the brush. No provision for forward and backward adjustment of the pulleys I62 is necessary.

For driving the various instrumentalities above described, there is provided a motor I68 (Figs. 1 and 2) housed in the lower portion of the frame I6. Abelt I10 driven by a pulley on the shaft of the motor I68 passes over a pulley I12 and another pulley I14. The pulley I14 through gearing I16 drives a sprocket wheel I11 which in turn through the sprocket chain 16 drives the sprocket-wheel 14 on the feed belt pulley 50. The brush I4 is driven by a belt I18 passing over a second groove in the pulley I12 and over a pulley I on the brush spindle 28. The bufilng roll is provided with a pulley I82 secured on the shaft I8 and driven by a belt I84 which passes over a pulley I86 in the lower portion of the frame I6. Running over a second groove in the pulley I86 for driving the belt I84 is a belt I88 passing over a pulley on the shaft of the motor I68. The pulley I86 is freely rotatable upon a shaft I90 which is carried by a bracket I92 clamped by'a screw I94 against a pair of finished surfaces I96 extending inwardly from the side wall of the frame I 6. A slot I98 in the bracket I92 enables the bracket to be adjusted longitudinally or angularly about the screw I94. Asimilar support 200 is provided for the pulley I12.

For removing dust resulting from the operation of the bufiing tool and the brush there is provided a dust hood 202 (Figs. 1 and 2) mounted on the plate 42 and connected to a suction intake 1 204 of the usual dust disposal system. The lower edge of the plate 42 is close to the buffing roll II) to enable the plate to serve asa bafile. An opening, however, is provided in the plate to enable the suction of the intak 204 to reach the forward portion of the hood.

The operation of the machine will'be apparent from the foregoing description. A work piece such as a skived sole is advanced along the feed table I1 by the operator until it reaches the feed belts 41, whereupon the work piece is carried by these belts to a locality at which it is gripped between the supporting rolls 18 and the beveled surface I50 ofthe throat plate. The pressure of the work piece against the surface I50 enables the feed belts 41 to control the feed of the work piece notwithstanding the fact that the bufiing roll l0 with its rough surface is rotating at a -much higher speed than the feed belts are advancing. A portiongdepending on the adjustment of the rod 96, of the pressure exerted by the presser rolls holds the work against the buffing roll. Because each supporting roll 18 is I the transverse center line of the machine, the path of travel of each point on the butfing roll will be inclined to the direction of feed of the work. Each particle of grit on the rapidly rtating buffing roll will therefore, on each succeeding rotation of the roll, engage the work along a line slightly displaced laterally from the line of engagement of the previous rotation. The effect of any irregularity in size or sharpness of the particles of grit on the bufilng roll will thus be distributed over the surface of the work piece rather than confined to a relatively few conspicuous scratch marks. The work pieces, before dropping from the delivery end of the belts 4'1, are engaged by the brush M- which frees them of dust.

Having thus described my invention What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A bufiing machine, comprising a bufling roll, flexible work-feeding means driven in a direction oblique'to the axis of said bufiing roll, and a plurality of individually yieldable members engaging and acting through said Work-feeding means along a line parallel to the axis of said buffing roll for causing the work-feeding means to press the work against the buffing roll,

2. A bufiing machine, comprising a bufling roll, a work-feeding mechanism having driven endless belting upon which the work is carried past said bufling roll, the axis of said buifing roll being disposed obliquely to the direction of feed of said belting, and a plurality of individually yieldable resiliently actuated members engaging said belting along a line parallel to the axis of said buffing roll for causing the belting to press the work against the buifing roll.

3. A bufiing machine, comprising a driven buffing roll, a plurality of driven feed belts for feeding work past the bufling roll, and a yieldable member associated with each belt and acting through its associated belt independently of the other yieldable members to press the work against the bufilng roll.

4. A buifing machine, comprising a drivenbufb ing roll, a plurality of driven feed belts extending obliquely to said buifing roll for feeding work past the buffing roll, and a resilient means associated with each belt for causing the belts to press a work piece against the bufiing roll, each resilient means being yieldable independently of the others to accommodate local variations in thickness of the work piece.

5. A buffing machine, comprising a buffing roll, a plurality of driven parallel feed belts oblique to said bufling roll for feeding work past the buffing roll, a pulley for supporting said belts at a locality in advance of the buffing roll, and a pulley for supporting said belts at a locality to the rear of said bufiing roll.

6. A butting machine, comprising a bufiing roll, a plurality of parallel feed belts oblique to said buifing roll for feeding workpast the bufiing roll, a pulley for supporting said belts at a locality in advance of the buffing roll, a pulley for supporting said belts at alocality to the rear of said buffing roll, means for driving one of said. pulleys, and means for pressing the feed belts upwardly to cause them to press a work piece against the buffing roll.

7. A bufiing machine, comprising a bufling roll" engageable with one surface of a work piece of sheet material, a plurality of driven parallel feed belts for feeding work past the bufling roll, a pulley for supporting said belts at a locality in advance of the bufiing roll, a pulley for supporting said belts at a locality to the rear of said buffing roll, an individual pulley for each of said belts for supporting its associated belt in the vicinity of said buffing roll, and resilient means for independently pressing said individual supporting pulleys toward the bufiing roll to hold a work piece on the feed belts against the buffing roll.

8. A buffing machine, comprising a plurality of driven parallel belts having their upper runs substantially horizontal for feeding a work piece, a buffing roll extending across thevpath of a work piece on said feed belts for bufiing the exposed surface of the work piece, a brush extending across the path of the work piece on said feed belts for cleaning the exposed surface of the work piece after the work piece has been engaged by said bufiing roll, a throat plate in advance of the buffing roll, a second throat plate in advance of r the brush, a row of spring-pressed members for exerting pressure through the belts to hold the work piece against the first throat plate and the bufiing roll, and a second row of spring-pressed members for exerting pressure through the belts to hold the work piece against the second throat plate and the brush. s

NORWOOD H. KNOWLTON. 

